Vietnam deputy PM seeks first bank admission to HCMC financial centre in November
Nguyen Van Thang also wants transactions to begin in November, while licensing and oversight procedures remain under development.
Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Van Thang wants November to bring both the first bank admission and the start of transactions at Ho Chi Minh City's international financial centre. He urged agencies to advance the legal framework and licensing arrangements, alongside the conditions needed for operations.
Thang set out those priorities on Oct. 28 while meeting existing members and prospective investors at the 2026 Autumn Economic Forum. The Vietnam International Financial Center in HCMC (VIFC-HCMC) had formally accepted its first 10 members earlier that day.
Those members are all holding companies. Their interests include energy, logistics and infrastructure, as well as investment, payments, fintech and commodity trading. Their combined charter capital, including registered and committed amounts, stands at US$33.63 million.
The companies intend to raise and invest about US$2.7 billion by 2027. The cumulative amount is expected to reach US$3 billion by 2030. Membership alone does not exempt businesses in regulated sectors from obtaining the necessary licences or approvals.
The centre continues to develop procedures covering licensing, management and supervision. It targets November for rules on admitting investment funds and plans a three-tier asset-management licensing structure based on models in Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong.
